A challenging goldwork embroidery gift ....

Some months back, my friend & I did a workshop in our county town of Shrewsbury as an introduction to goldwork embroidery.  It was a relaxing day getting some understanding of goldwork embroidery. The technique we used was just couching - laying down gold threads & couching over with threads to hold the shape. It is a technique I use for various threads & it is relaxing. 

However, from background research online before that course, I knew that goldwork is much more complex, often used in intricate religious & ceremonial garments & it is a specialised field. 

I bought a book to better understand the techniques & various threads used, but other than a brief read, it was not studied. 

My talented friend & neighbour who makes the most amazing beaded miniature books surprised me with a goldwork kit for my birthday in April, as a follow-up to the workshop I had done a few days before. 

I must admit to being rather overwhelmed when I opened it & found an array of gold threads, beads, & instructions that were rather challenging. I  put it aside & thought - this will take careful work to even find out what each thread & instruction is for. 

This weekend, being a long one here, I decided now or never; I had postured enough. 

I have my creative space & machines in a spare room that I have taken over & so I laid out the contents of the goldwork kit & spent a lot of time deciding which threads are which - rough or smooth purl, pearl purl, leather, bright check. passing thread, beads & more.  Once they were laid out on the right section of the instructions, it felt more ordered & manageable. 

Fortunately I have an embroidery stand that is essential when you need your hands free. 

Mine has a  small board that you can peg instructions to - essential at such times as these when following instructions is the only way to see a way forward with unfamiliar techniques. 

I have not really used silk so putting in grid stitching to hold it to the backing fabric was interesting. 

Then the pattern was traced, then pinned to the hooped fabrics, running stitches around all the shapes, the tracing paper then torn away to leave just the outline stitches. 

That took much longer than I thought it would ... 

Then the process of following each & every instruction in order to couch the stems with the really fiddly pulling back of the threads at the end of each section so they are not visible at the front. 

Tracing & adding felt to part of the flower shapes, then beading it by cutting some of the wire - I think I made mine a little big but it worked out even though it was fiddly. 

The gold leather shapes on the flowers needed a thimble to get the fine needle through the leather & keep it neat. Gold beads on part of the shapes followed before the shapes were outlined with the stretchy bright check wire. I worked through the order of things & on the second day was relieved that the progress was good. 

Finally after about 10 hours of stitching, cutting, threading multiple needles, the last stitches went in & I could un-hoop it & decided what next. There is a carboard backing board, but perhaps I will just hoop it for now until I decide how I want to display it. 

It is easily the most challenging sewing I have done, & it requires very nimble sewing & an awareness of several techniques & use of threads & wires. 

It is a massive relief to say it is done, I did it after putting it off for weeks because of the unknown nature of the techniques. 

My friend Diane is a City & Guilds embroidery & her stitching is precise, mine is good but she is way too generous to say anything other than be complimentary. 

I feel a sense of relief & pride that I completed this rather challenging gift & I am in  awe of the work of guild people who do intricate goldwork. 

It is a real skill, one which  I don't have, but then again, I have never studied embroidery formally. 

Do you also procrastinate when challenged until you have to step up? Thank you for stopping by, please subscribe & share - it is much appreciated. 

Dee 🪡📍📖

Tracing the enigmatic footsteps of T.E. Lawrence in Dorset

 I have heard the story from my late father in law of him watching Thomas Edward Lawrence (T.E. Lawrence / Lawrence of Arabia) travel down the road past the old Dorset family home for years. He told how he used to sit on the brick front wall & watch T.E drive past & waving to him. What Johnnie didn't tell was that it was his Father TG who rode out with T.E Lawrence & that it was something they both enjoyed doing. 

Hubbies Great grandfather TG was pictured on his motor cycle with great grandma sitting side ways on the back, locally  in the lanes of Walditch. 

While in Dorset for a few days, I asked if a trip to Moreton could be on  the cards for Sunday because it is actually somewhere I had not been to even though it was not far from the county town of Dorchester that I have visited dozens of times over the years. 

That is how we came to visit Moreton, close to Bovington where T.E. Lawrence was stationed after his famous Lawrence of Arabia time when he had an ambivalent attitude to the fame that followed him. 

Grandfather TG had kept dozens of newspaper articles on him & we read them with interest. 

One said this of his attitude to fame:

He was once described as the type of man who would feign embarrassment if he walked in to a party & people recognised him - but stand on his head if no one did. 

St Nicolas Church Moreton is very special; a church has stood on that site since 1190. Its popularity is largely because of 2 persons named Lawrence / Laurence - the 13 Laurence Whistler engraved glass windows & the grave of Lawrence of Arabia, T.E Lawrence. 

The church suffered a direct bomb hit in 1940, losing the north wall & windows & being out of action for some time. 

The 12th century font remained standing amidst the rubble. 

Sir Laurence Whistler - the Father of Glass engraving - etched all 12 windows inside the church & the 13th panel - the Forgiveness Window, was the last addition. That is best viewed from outside.

The bright sunshine made the details on the windows harder to see & some were better viewed from outside. They are all very special windows.

There are impressive Minton encaustic tiles in the apse with 5 sets of 3 panel engraved windows in the circular space. 

T.E. Lawrence enrolled incognito as a private soldier - T.E. Shaw, at the nearby Bovington Camp to escape the notoriety that followed him after Arabia. 

He lived at the modest Clouds Hill house nearby so this was his local church. 

T.E Lawrence died in a motor cycle accident near Clouds Hill & his funeral was held in this church. It was attended by Winston & Clementine Churchill, G.B. Shaw & others.  T.E had served as an advisor to Churchill in the 1920's so they were well acquainted. 

Hubbies Great grandfather TG attended the funeral & there is a photo of him at the graveside. 

After visiting the church, we made our way to the grave, it is immaculately maintained because of his fame. I wonder what he would have made of the steady stream of people making the pilgrimage in his memory? 

It was very interesting walking in the history of T.E Lawrence & the shared history of great grandfather TG. I still want to visit Clouds Hill but that will be on another visit. I also need to watch the iconic Lawrence of Arabia movie with Peter O' Toole. 

I hope this has been interesting too, thank you for your company, 

Dee  ⛪️🌳🏡 🚙 

Quick cheese scones

 It is one of those wet afternoons when I am whittling my way through my book stash. Reading in the bright conservatory is my favourite time, listening to the rain on the roof. 

The rain brought on memories of my childhood when my  mother would bake scones for us to come home to on wet days on the Highveld in South Africa. 

This is my quick recipe that is quick to make 

250g (1 cup) self raising flour

1 rounded tsp baking powder

40 g butter 

1 large egg & milk made up to 100ml

grated cheese & mustard powder

Preheat the oven to 200C (fan) while you are busy making up the scones

Rub the butter & self raising powder together till it looks like breadcrumbs. Add in the baking powder, mustard powder, & most of the egg & milk mixture, keeping back just a little for brushing the tops with. Lightly mix in some grated cheese if you like (about 80g, I didn't weigh mine)

Turn out on to a lightly floured surface (I used a silicone tray what worked really well), pat down to a thick shape & cut in to about 6 - 8 scones. (I used a medium cutter & got 7 scones. 

Brush the tops with the leftover egg & milk then bake in the centre of the oven for about 10-12 minutes. I use a silicone mat from Ikea that makes baking so easy as nothing sticks. 

Turn out, make some coffee & enjoy with butter & more cheese.

I hope  you make some too ... 

Dee 🧈🪺🥞☕️

Kahlua infused date & banana bread

You know by now that I love using up soft bananas in baking. We had 2 large soft bananas in the fruit bowl & I immediately thought of a date & banana bread for the weekend. 

However, the dates are a little under whelming & I have infused them with tea the last few times but today I thought coffee would be good, Kahlua coffee liqueur to be exact. 

I cut up about 120g of dates, poured over about 30ml of Kahlua & left it to steep while I made up the banana bread as per this recipe I always use. I doubled up everything to make 2 loaves - one for eating, one for the freezer. 

The dates had plumped up a bit & I added them & the tiny bit of liquid in last with a bit of desiccated coconut, mixed briefly & divided the mixture between two lined baking tins.

It baked for about 55 min at 175c until a sharp knife came out clean. 

Cooled then cut to go with coffee. It was a subtle taste, just a hint of the liqueur but an interesting taste. The second loaf was sliced before being frozen for those days when you want a slice of something & it can be warmed in a microwave for a few seconds then enjoyed. 

Is it a variation you might try? Thank you for stopping by,

Dee 🧈🍞🍌☕️🥃

Hay-on-Wye, the book town of the world ...

 The river Wye winds its way across Herefordshire & after overnighting in Ross-on-Wye,  I really wanted to visit the well known YGelli Gandryll or Hay-on-Wye, known for its book shops & literary events. During May each year, writers, politicians, scientists, musicians, cooks etc all descend on Hay for the literary festival & it buzzes with excitement. 

Its border position on the river Wye & just in to Wales means it was always a contested space between various kings & Offa's Dyke borders Hay. King Offa of Mercia built a 177 mile dyke to separate England & Wales, the dyke stretches up in to Shropshire as well. 

 

Just our luck, the heavens opened & it poured down but if you decide on something, you have to just go for it. 

The maxim of there is no bad weather, just the wrong clothes applies.

Fortunately we had umbrellas & a waterproof jacket I had thrown in on a whim. 

The 400 vehicle car park was already filling up mid morning when we parked up & walked in to the little town. 

First stop was tourist information to get some background info on the town. 

It is evident that all things literacy are celebrated here - the 28  bookshops cheek by jowl with each other as well as a market in the square. 

The bookshop lists help to plan if you are after a specific book or genre of books. 

The town also an impressive array of printers.

There are a few charity shops too that sell only books, they understand the market in this town. There are also several music / record shops that attract people. 

Hay Castle has a prominent position above the town - solid & imposing with some book shelves under a slate roof cover at the walls, an honesty box close by. People are generally honest & this is a good introduction to the town.

Castles are always interesting & it offered a dry spot so we made our way up the wet, steep steps  to the castle & paid our entry.  

Hay Castle has a long & interesting history dating from 1091 when it was a manor house. 

It was built by William de Breos in about 1200 & he was known as a treacherous Norman Marches Lord who fell foul of King John in 1216 & the castle was destroyed. It was rebuilt later & this pattern continued for centuries in the border wars.  

The history is partly Welsh, some English, always brutal & destructive. 

It has a commanding view over the town from the viewing platform high up in the castle. 

   

A fascinating space with a long history. I did not know of the history of the book connection to Hay just that it celebrated books.

 Mr Richard Booth founded the connection to books in 1961, an eccentric person who declared himself as king with his own titles etc.  

Monied eccentrics have always brightened up life on our Isles & he was no different. It was good to get up to speed on his history in the castle displays about the founder of the literary connection to the town of Hay. 

The castle was restored with lottery money, a great deal of it, & it is definitely worth visiting. 

It was still bucketing down with rain when we descended from the Castle to the high street to the buttercross market & wandered around the many shops & stalls. 

It is an absolute joy to see so many bookshops & people celebrating reading.  

My first job in England was working in our local public libraries as an assistant, then later in a university library that I absolutely loved the academic buzz. I value the skill of reading very highly as an educator because it unlocks knowledge, & knowledge is power.  

I did not buy any books because I have several stacks of books that remind me that I am way behind on whittling them down ... 

My friend made this book carry pouch / bag for me for my birthday (we share a birthday) and I had a book with for my overnight trip that I had found some quiet time in a park to read a chapter or two in Ross-on-Wye. 

I am working my way through my stash of books  & like many others, I seek out a particular book online when I need it.  

We are spoilt in that way with most of the bookshops offering an online service so we have a world of books at our fingertips. 

The rain had eased by the time we returned to our car & gave our parking space over to a family that had been looping the 400 vehicle car park several times so they were relieved to take our space & a fellow antipodean stopped for a quick chat ... 

On our way over the river Wye, we spied a small café near the river & pulled in for a drink & a fabulous cake.  The Treehouse café had  a delectable array of cakes & treats to enjoy on the deck overlooking the river Wye. 

The canopy of trees & a babbling river were a pleasant break from the wet town & the clouds were slowly clearing after the heavy downpours earlier. 

I am so pleased to have been to Hay on Wye & to Hay Castle, it is good to visit new places, even just once. 

Do you have more books than you can read at one time? What is your strategy for whittling them down ... 

Dee 📚📘📕📓📗📖

24 hours in Ross-on-Wye ...

 

I love history & the back stories to people & places, it puts everything in context & things make more sense. Because I was not born on these Isles but have lived here for almost 3 decades, there are gaps in my understanding of the complexities of the history that I like to fill. 

I joined hubby on a trip to Ross-on-Wye, a town we had not visited, he was there for an all day golf  competition, I was there to enjoy a new town, an opportunity to explore on my own as I don't visit the county of Herefordshire too often. 

The early morning drop off meant I could watch the town wake up from my café seat with a hot cup of coffee after our 2 hour trip from our county of Shropshire. 

I downloaded the visitor guide & then set off around the many streets of the little town, walking each one to the end of the town section & popping in to the many shops that caught my eye. 

This might be a bit controversial but I find vintage / antique shops to be a little lost in a town has something like 14 charity shops so vintage home wares are very evident.  I think we become selective as we get older & I prefer not to accumulate but to each their own. I seek out specific items when I need them so it is interesting to browse & to see what is in demand. I think my reluctance stems from clearing out aged relatives homes … 

I found the 16th century Market House to still be the centre of things, maintaining its original purpose. 

It was not a market day but people, young, old, singularly or in groups sat about on the steps or the benches, chatting, eating a sandwich, relaxing, scrolling their phones or just enjoying music from a busker in the square. 

The upstairs Made in Ross gallery had a fabulous selection of handmade wares - paintings, music, art, felt objects, wooden items etc.

It had a most fabulous view through the double doors across the square & down the street.  That spot was where announcements & proclamations would have been made in times past, from an elevated position above the crowds gathered in the square below. 

Opposite was an imposing black & white building that had belonged to John Kyrle (1637 - 1724) known as The Man of Ross. He is celebrated all over town, including a memorial in St Mary's church & on a pub at the end of the High Street that is named after him. 

     

Late afternoon, I took my iced drink to Prospect Park, situated next to the church, that John Kyrle had given to the towns folk for leisure. 

It had a public drinking fountain at one time, essential in times past when water was not on tap. 

He never married but his philanthropic influence was immense. 

The park is still well used & I enjoyed the coolness under the trees, relaxing & watching some squirrels inquisitively trying to catch my eye in case I had something to eat in my bag. 

Churches are a font of local knowledge & this one was no different, set with elaborate memorials & impressive windows. St Mary's church has been the cornerstone of the town for centuries. The Gothic Markye Chapel, set to the side contains the war memorials & it is always humbling to see how many men in each town gave their life in service to their country. 

 Alms Houses  were established in England from the 10th century to provide shelter & care for the impoverished in the community, often widows left destitute & in need of support.  

These neat row of houses just down from the church date to 1575. I have seen similar ones in towns in Shropshire, they hark from a time when that was really the only safety net people had centuries ago, that & the work house. 

    

The church had a notice board charting the history of one family & their connection to the slave trade in Jamaica in times past. 

The notice board at the church doors gave mention of a Plague Cross & pit in the grounds & I set off to see it. 

The cross commemorates 315 souls who died in the great plague of 1637. They were hastily buried each night without coffins in pits just to the side of the cross. 

The Revd Philip Price officiated at the mass burials each night, a Christian act in the times of crisis. 

The reality of life in times past very evident, life was so fragile, death was never far in those times & mortality was high. 

The close around the church has the Royal Hotel, on the site of the Bishop's Palace that was home to the Bishop of Hereford in times past. 

The original timber structure dated to the 12th century. Opposite is stone walls on a raised position. However, the tower & wall dates to 1833 when the new road was built & the mock gothic town walls & tower were constructed.  They are now almost 200 years old  & part of the landscape, as if they had always been there. 

We had a drink on the pub terrace later in the evening, enjoying its elevated position over the River Wye & the surrounding countryside. 

One the end of the High Street behind this, was a The Old Court House with glass covering the original stone window with bars on it. Just opposite was a note on the old Swan and Falcon Inn to note that Horatio Nelson visited it in 1802. 

The information blue plaques & notice boards set about town & on buildings really brought the history to life so you can visualise & appreciate the long passage of time in the town. 

Because I was to be in town the whole day, I chose a central hotel, The Kings Head, a traditional coaching inn. We used to stay at a similar one in Stokenchurch, Hampshire  & I love the quirkiness of these old places. 

This one did not disappoint with its odd spaces, creaky staircase, uneven floors & dark wooden beams.   Our room was on to the High Street & cars rumbled past before it quietened down late evening. 

You could hear people moving about as the floors creaked & settled down for the night. It is sobering to think that people have stayed in this coaching inn for about 700 years. 

Breakfast was downstairs & I glanced down & saw a glass with a stone well set in the floor. 

The landlady said the well is about 50 feet deep, not used now but it was once essential in times past. This really brings the past in to focus & the age of the building is evident in these things. 

I had a very interesting 24 hours in Ross-on-Wye, I am so glad I seized the moment to have a change of scenery. 

I hope you have enjoyed the account too, 

Dee  

Experimenting with flex frames for pouches

 Summer time away from tutoring means I can spend time just playing with the sewing machine & trying out things I have had in my mind. 

I did some book bags from my Making Zen workshops in May & I loved the fabric combinations of the peacocks & blue roses, with a pale green fabric lining as well as the script fabric that is a favourite. 

I looked at the fabric bits this morning & remembered buying some flex frames some months back that I thought would be useful in little fabric purses or pouches. 

Mine were from Ebay, sold as 'metal internal flex frames' & are available in various sizes. These are about 3.5 inches long. 

Because I had not used them before I had to make it up as I went along. 

I cut 2 peacock  sides, 2 thin green lining sides, 2 script pieces to use as the channel for the flexes. 

I hemmed the 2 script pieces on the sides so the sliders would glide through, 

I assembled it ready to sew - the peacock fabric right sides up, then the narrow script channel laid on top of the first fabric, then the lining & sewed through the 3 pieces along the top. I did both sets of 3 pieces. 

I opened it up, lining up the peacock fabrics with the lining together, & the channel pieces were to the patterned side, away from the side stitching. 

I started on the bottom of the lining, leaving about 1.5 inches to turn it all through. I stitched all the way around, ending again at the bottom but leaving the opening space. 

I turned it through the opening, ironed it flat then I machine stitched the lining space because this was a test one. 

 I inserted the flex frame & had to bend the little metal part over the base to hold the pin in place. 

To improve on,  I would make the channel thinner & narrower. The channel fabric words were upside down - something to be aware of next time. 

An interesting learning curve as I have made little pouches with a channel but put in string so this is something I will try again (I also have another 9 flex frames in the pack so that might inspire me)

Is this something you have used? What tips can you share? 

Thank you for stopping by, you are always most welcome to share & comment. 

Dee 🧵🪡📍

Making Zen - a tsunobukuro style bag

I am enjoying doing some of the creative work from the May Making Zen workshops. These were the previous ones  I did recently: 

Weaving remnants with intention 

Sewing a pouch with a gusset 

On a lazy Sunday, I got to one I have been wanting to do, this tsunobukuro style bag for holding a small notebook, art on the go, a journal etc. In the workshop there was a notebook to go with it but I decided against doing it, I might still. These bags sometimes have a tie on the top or shoulder bags, mostly just a medium weight fabric  ... 

The bag construction is both simple & intricate. This is my paper template I made while watching the workshop. You start off with your rectangle, have the fold towards you. 

If the bag is not lined, it needs to have neat edges so I decided to do the lined bag which I thought would be quicker. 

My outer & lining fabric was 24 inches by 8.5 inches. 

I sewed them right sides together, leaving a space on the side to turn them through then handstitched that closed & pressed the fabric edges. 

With the fold of the rectangle towards you, the fabric is loosely folded over in a crossed over shape with about 4 inches between the folds to form a V. 

Crease the bottom fold then bring the left hand side over to meet the middle part. PIN in several places to keep that shape.

Flip the fabric over & bring the second side to meet the centre, pin again. This should now form a rectangular shape that is taller than wide. 

It can be sewn together in 2 ways - on the inside by hand or machine, starting at the corner & just to where the side flaps meet the main fabric. 

I did the patterned one this way. Turn right side out & lightly press. You can add a fabric / ribbon tie if you wish. 

For the second one, the construction was the same, it was machined with a lining fabric, but I joined the folded in sides with a blanket stitch and pearl cotton no8 on the top. 

This was quite tricky & I caught the inside fabric near the corner, but I did not unpick that little stitch. 

I personally prefer the patterned fabric but will make the machined seam bigger next time to reduce the bulk when it was pressed through. 

It is an interesting project that took me longer than I thought even though  it was an easy sew. 

I hope you will be inspired to have a go at one of these interesting bags. What would you use yours for? 

Thank you for stopping by, you are always most welcome. 

Dee 🪡🧵